Division of Workforce Development and Adult Learning

Employment, Unemployment and Unemployment Rate by Place of Residence (LAUS)

The statistics in this section are gathered from the Local Area Unemployment
Statistics Program which produces estimates of the labor force, employment, and
unemployment for the state and its subdivisions. This employment measure is
based on where workers live. Final adjusted numbers are available following the
benchmark process (see individual tables).

Technical Note: Starting with January 2005, a new method of calculating employment/unemployment was used
in the development of statewide, Metropolitan Area and county level data under
the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program. Among the benefits the
new state models have over the existing state models are:

State estimates will be controlled monthly or in “real time” to the Current
Population Survey (CPS), a household survey conducted by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics (BLS). As a result, the sum of state model estimates will equal national CPS totals.

The real time benchmarking approach will ensure that shocks to the economy
(e.g. turns in the business cycle, terrorist attacks) will be captured sooner.

Real-time benchmarking will improve over the year analysis of estimates and make end of the year revisions smaller

Monthly error measures will be available

Concurrent with the introduction of the new estimation model, the LAUS program has
implemented 2000 Census based geographic areas, changing both the names and
geographic configurations of Maryland’s Labor Market Areas (LMAs).

Additionally, the model input ratios used in sub-state estimation of labor force entrant
unemployment, agricultural employment, self-employment, employment among unpaid
family and private household workers and non-farm resident employment have been updated using both CPS and 2000 census relationships.